Status
Available
Collection
Publication
Del Rey (1816)
Description
Martin Padaway was a smart enough young man, with a scientific education, but no universal genius. He had the misfortune to be suddenly dropped back into time, and a very alarming time at that-sinth century Rome, when the Goths ruled Italy, and civilization in the west was collapsing. To make a living, and to try and shore up civilization, Padaway undertook to introduce inventions such as gunpowder, clocks, and printing. Some worked and some didn't, often with dramatic and hilarious results.
User reviews
LibraryThing member baswood
Further back in science fiction time with L Sprague de Camp's Lest Darkness Fall originally serialised in an American Pulp fantasy magazine (Unknown) in 1939. It is an early novel in the sub-genre of alternative history science fiction. The idea as explained on the opening page of this novel is
The story starts with archeologist Martin Padway being struck by lightning while working in Rome. He wakes up to find himself still in Rome but in the year AD 535 at a time when the kingdom of the Ostrogoths would shortly be at war with the Byzantines and the war would devastate Italy and launch the European world into a time that has since been labelled the dark ages. When Martin is transported into the past he must first consider ways of making a living and so launches on a career as an inventor using his knowledge of 20th century culture. He manages to make a living and further experiments bring him to the notice of the political rulers. He gradually becomes a man of power and influence and decides in his own interests and the people around him he will try and stop Italy's fall into the dark ages.
The novel follows a similar path to other novels I have read by de Camp; starting with an interesting premise but ultimately degenerating into an adventure story featuring plenty of military action. The first part of the novel where the 20th century Martin must make his way in a society from the past with nothing in his pocket but his wallet and a few coins is imaginative and well handled and became a page turning experience. Martin becomes mysterious Martinus who not only invents things but has a sketchy knowledge of the future and by hard work and industry established himself in his new world. It was when this early part of the novel turned into the heroic general Martinus leading the Goths into a war with the Byzantines that the novel palled for me. However this is in many ways where De camp is most at home with the adventurous sword fighting stuff and the story rattles along. The imagination of creating a different world is not completely abandoned, but the action scenes now drive the story.
Lest Darkness Falls is considered to be one of De Camps best science fiction stories, paving the way for others in this sub-genre. Enjoyable enough and so three stars.
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that some people who disappear slip back through time and if we imagine time as like the trunk of a tree then people from the future who change events of the past form a new branch of the tree, which grows out from the main trunk of time to form an alternate past. The story starts with archeologist Martin Padway being struck by lightning while working in Rome. He wakes up to find himself still in Rome but in the year AD 535 at a time when the kingdom of the Ostrogoths would shortly be at war with the Byzantines and the war would devastate Italy and launch the European world into a time that has since been labelled the dark ages. When Martin is transported into the past he must first consider ways of making a living and so launches on a career as an inventor using his knowledge of 20th century culture. He manages to make a living and further experiments bring him to the notice of the political rulers. He gradually becomes a man of power and influence and decides in his own interests and the people around him he will try and stop Italy's fall into the dark ages.
The novel follows a similar path to other novels I have read by de Camp; starting with an interesting premise but ultimately degenerating into an adventure story featuring plenty of military action. The first part of the novel where the 20th century Martin must make his way in a society from the past with nothing in his pocket but his wallet and a few coins is imaginative and well handled and became a page turning experience. Martin becomes mysterious Martinus who not only invents things but has a sketchy knowledge of the future and by hard work and industry established himself in his new world. It was when this early part of the novel turned into the heroic general Martinus leading the Goths into a war with the Byzantines that the novel palled for me. However this is in many ways where De camp is most at home with the adventurous sword fighting stuff and the story rattles along. The imagination of creating a different world is not completely abandoned, but the action scenes now drive the story.
Lest Darkness Falls is considered to be one of De Camps best science fiction stories, paving the way for others in this sub-genre. Enjoyable enough and so three stars.
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LibraryThing member ehines
One of my favorite pulps. An engineer gets trapped in the late Roman Empire. Just after the West has fallen, actually. Some pretty interesting points on this crucial point in history when civilization was about to take two big steps back. And de Camp's thinking on what sorts of modern technology
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and know-how would actually be transferable should be a model for this sort of book. Show Less
LibraryThing member kvrfan
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A 20th-century archeologist time-travels back to 6th century Rome where he strives to prevent the Dark Ages from descending upon Europe.
Though the book suffers from its share of anachronisms--not the least of which is the relative ease with which the protagonist
Especially if a reader loves history, he'd find this a fun novel to read.
Though the book suffers from its share of anachronisms--not the least of which is the relative ease with which the protagonist
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ingratiates himself with an ancient culture--if one is willing to forgive the premise of faster-than-light space travel in other forms of science fiction, why not forgive this book its indulgences?Especially if a reader loves history, he'd find this a fun novel to read.
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LibraryThing member john257hopper
Professor Martin Padway is an archaeologist and ancient historian visiting Rome. After a flash of lightning, he is transported back to 6th century Rome, at a time after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, when its carcass is being fought over by the Goths, who control Italy, and the Byzantine, or
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Eastern Roman Empire, which nevertheless still calls itself Roman. After a promising start, as Martin tries to find his feet and get his head round the dramatic and unbelievable change in his circumstances, he decides to make it his mission to change history, so that the Roman Empire will not fall, and the darkness of the so called "dark ages" will not descend. So he proceeds to create the printing press, telegraphs, clocks, and so on, as well as military technology to protect the micro-world he is trying to create. In my view, the novel deteriorates as he becomes very powerful and is quickly effectively running the government and is mainly able to persuade people to support his technological endeavours, despite a couple of close scrapes earlier on. In this respect, the novel is rather like an updated Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. The final part contains a lot of descriptions of battles, which I always find a bit tedious. In places, this is quite funny, but overall rather a disappointment. Show Less
LibraryThing member mstrust
20th Century Archeologist Martin Padway suddenly finds himself transported back to Ancient Rome on the eve of the Dark Ages. He decides to try and head off the fall of Rome.
I found this book tiring. The writing isn't so great and I began to wonder if it had been meant for children, and maybe it
I found this book tiring. The writing isn't so great and I began to wonder if it had been meant for children, and maybe it
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was, as it was written in the late '30's, when science fiction was very popular with children. My problem was the almost complete lack of inner dialogue. Padway is caught in a sudden thunderstorm and POOF! he's now two thousand years back in time. There's really no exploration of how he feels about it, if he's frightened, worried, elated. He doesn't even set about trying to get back- instead, his first thought is to find a money exchanger! It's this lack of emotion in the characters that made reading this a real grind. Show Less
LibraryThing member JohnGrant1
I read this in the SFBC edition of the undated (but obviously very much later) Ballantine reissue of de Camp's 1949 revision of the book -- the one whose cover I instantly recognized because it was done by my sadly deceased pal Ron Walotsky. Whatever, any page numbers I might cite are almost
Being driven through bustling modern (well, 1930s) Rome by an Italian friend, Martin Padway is discussing the nature of time with that friend. On getting out of the car, he's struck by a bolt of lightning and transported back to Rome in the year AD535. Once there he adapts fairly quickly, using his rudimentary memories of schoolboy classical Latin (those were the educational days, eh?) to get around and his knowledge of as-yet-unelapsed near-future (to the Romans) history and much later technology to build a prosperous life for himself. It soon dawns on him that Italy is on the verge of the invasion that will snuff out the light of civilization for the long centuries of the Dark Ages, and he determines to avert this human disaster and change the course of history for the better, a task that involves his introducing bits of technology (like the printing press) long ahead of their time, politically manipulating the various factions of Italy's Gothic masters, and at one stage even become Italy's de facto king. In other words, he becomes a sort of Coyote figure using tricksterism with relish but toward, in this instance, a good end -- much like the protagonist of Eric Frank Russell's much later Wasp (1957), a novel of which I was constantly reminded while reading this one, even though de Camp lacked Russell's storytelling ability and wry wit.
I remember not liking this book much when I read it forty years ago or more, and I discovered I still didn't like it much. My mild sense of tedium became an active dislike when, on pp159-60, I came across a bit of plotting that de Camp obviously thought was hilarious and which is in fact disgustingly racist; I tried to justify it through the usual "product of his times" arguments, and couldn't. Worse still, it relies on a particular form of racism which, so far as my limited knowledge of history informs me, would have been regarded with blank incomprehension in 6th-century Rome. Most of the time, though, I found the text just a bit mediocre: I turned the pages because I wanted to get to the end of the book, not because of any avid need to find out what happened.
There was one really top-notch bit of plus ca change, though. Padway discovers that 6th-century Rome suffers from a bad infestation of religion. Here he is, early on (pp25-6), chatting with an Orthodox Christian he's met in a pub:
"You don't like the Goths?"
"No! Not with the persecution we have to put up with!"
"Persecution?" Padway raised his eyebrows.
"Religious persecution. We won't stand for it forever."
"I thought the Goths let everybody worship as they pleased."
"That's just it. We Orthodox are forced to stand around and watch Arians and Monophysites and Nestorians and Jews going about their business unmolested, as if they owned the country. If that isn't persecution, I'd like to know what is!"
"You mean that you're persecuted because the heretics and such are not?"
"Certainly, isn't that obvious?"
It's like something you expect to hear from Bill O'Reilly or Ann Coulter, or read in one of those ghastly action alerts the American Family Association keep sending me . . .
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certain to differ from those in the copy of the book you have on your own shelves. Either Ballantine or the SFBC or both clearly thought it would be wastefully effete to bother proofreading this reissue, tra-la: aren't publishers such wags?Being driven through bustling modern (well, 1930s) Rome by an Italian friend, Martin Padway is discussing the nature of time with that friend. On getting out of the car, he's struck by a bolt of lightning and transported back to Rome in the year AD535. Once there he adapts fairly quickly, using his rudimentary memories of schoolboy classical Latin (those were the educational days, eh?) to get around and his knowledge of as-yet-unelapsed near-future (to the Romans) history and much later technology to build a prosperous life for himself. It soon dawns on him that Italy is on the verge of the invasion that will snuff out the light of civilization for the long centuries of the Dark Ages, and he determines to avert this human disaster and change the course of history for the better, a task that involves his introducing bits of technology (like the printing press) long ahead of their time, politically manipulating the various factions of Italy's Gothic masters, and at one stage even become Italy's de facto king. In other words, he becomes a sort of Coyote figure using tricksterism with relish but toward, in this instance, a good end -- much like the protagonist of Eric Frank Russell's much later Wasp (1957), a novel of which I was constantly reminded while reading this one, even though de Camp lacked Russell's storytelling ability and wry wit.
I remember not liking this book much when I read it forty years ago or more, and I discovered I still didn't like it much. My mild sense of tedium became an active dislike when, on pp159-60, I came across a bit of plotting that de Camp obviously thought was hilarious and which is in fact disgustingly racist; I tried to justify it through the usual "product of his times" arguments, and couldn't. Worse still, it relies on a particular form of racism which, so far as my limited knowledge of history informs me, would have been regarded with blank incomprehension in 6th-century Rome. Most of the time, though, I found the text just a bit mediocre: I turned the pages because I wanted to get to the end of the book, not because of any avid need to find out what happened.
There was one really top-notch bit of plus ca change, though. Padway discovers that 6th-century Rome suffers from a bad infestation of religion. Here he is, early on (pp25-6), chatting with an Orthodox Christian he's met in a pub:
"You don't like the Goths?"
"No! Not with the persecution we have to put up with!"
"Persecution?" Padway raised his eyebrows.
"Religious persecution. We won't stand for it forever."
"I thought the Goths let everybody worship as they pleased."
"That's just it. We Orthodox are forced to stand around and watch Arians and Monophysites and Nestorians and Jews going about their business unmolested, as if they owned the country. If that isn't persecution, I'd like to know what is!"
"You mean that you're persecuted because the heretics and such are not?"
"Certainly, isn't that obvious?"
It's like something you expect to hear from Bill O'Reilly or Ann Coulter, or read in one of those ghastly action alerts the American Family Association keep sending me . . .
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LibraryThing member RobertDay
This book is regarded as a classic of sciennce fiction, though it can read rather datedly nowadays. An archaeologist on assignment in Italy is hit by a thunderbolt, and hey presto! he's been flung back in time to the Roman Empire. With his foreknowledge of the course of human history, he sets about
Ostensibly, the 'darkness' Sprague de Camp writes of is the Dark Ages. He makes his character introduce printing so as to allow the free dissemination of ideas and advance Roman society and technology so that the Dark Ages would not happen. And he succeeds in putting his "inventions" in place. But are we sure that Sprague de Camp meant the Dark Ages?
The contemporary Italy that we see at the beginning of the book is Mussolini's Italy. Is it possible that, through the medium of a pulp science fiction novel (albeit one with a bit more intelligence about itself), Sprague de Camp was suggesting that America should awake, encourage the free flow of ideas, and prevent the fall of a different kind of darkness across Europe and the world? Or indeed, that by putting free thought and discussion into place a thousand years before the Renaissance, his hero would not only prevent the medieval Dark Ages, but the Dark Age of 20th centruy fascism?
I believe that no work of art, no matter how trivial or slight, can avoid referring to the time and place it was created in. If we accept that view, then 'Lest darkness fall' is an anti-fascist tract, disguised as a time-travel story. And perhaps it changed just enough minds to help prevent the fall of darkness in our own time.
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accelerating the progress of Roman society, with the aim of preventing the fall of "darkness".Ostensibly, the 'darkness' Sprague de Camp writes of is the Dark Ages. He makes his character introduce printing so as to allow the free dissemination of ideas and advance Roman society and technology so that the Dark Ages would not happen. And he succeeds in putting his "inventions" in place. But are we sure that Sprague de Camp meant the Dark Ages?
The contemporary Italy that we see at the beginning of the book is Mussolini's Italy. Is it possible that, through the medium of a pulp science fiction novel (albeit one with a bit more intelligence about itself), Sprague de Camp was suggesting that America should awake, encourage the free flow of ideas, and prevent the fall of a different kind of darkness across Europe and the world? Or indeed, that by putting free thought and discussion into place a thousand years before the Renaissance, his hero would not only prevent the medieval Dark Ages, but the Dark Age of 20th centruy fascism?
I believe that no work of art, no matter how trivial or slight, can avoid referring to the time and place it was created in. If we accept that view, then 'Lest darkness fall' is an anti-fascist tract, disguised as a time-travel story. And perhaps it changed just enough minds to help prevent the fall of darkness in our own time.
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LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
A historian, Martin Padway, is transported to Rome of 500AD and proceeds to introduce inventions (like the printing press, Arabic numerals) and innovations to prevent the Fall of Rome and the inception of the Dark Ages. This is an engaging mixture of time-travel and alternate history--in fact,
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given it was written in 1939, it might possibly have invented the genre of alternate history. I particularly found amusing the picture of all the different Christian sects. De Camp appears to have done his research and though the book doesn't get high points for literary style or engaging my emotions deeply, it does make for a fascinating and entertaining portrait of a turning point in history and how a man with the right technological and political levers could have made a difference. Show Less
LibraryThing member magnumpigg
Tried to read it; supposed to be a classic; found it slow and tiring and the writing style juvenile. I didn't finish it, so things could have changed, but as far as I read I felt like I was reading an accountant's or businessman's journey back in time -- oooh, let's set up shop an exchange money.
LibraryThing member jerhogan
Interesting idea of a contemporary professor sent back to Rome and the "inventions" he could use in order to avoid the Middle Ages (The Darkness). Much interesting historical detail and an enjoyable story.
LibraryThing member MacDad
What would you do if you were suddenly transported in time? This is the adventure thrust upon Martin Padway, an American archaeologist in 1938 Rome who is struck by a lightning bolt sends him over 1400 years in the past. Stuck in a city and an Italy that had seen better days and equipped with
Such is the scenario of L. Sprague de Camp’s novel, a classic of science fiction and one of the seminal works of the alternate history genre. That it has attained this status is due to de Camp’s skills as an author. Once he moves from the premise he constructs a plausible scenario with many believable characters. Unlike all too many other authors working within the genre, he does not overwhelm the reader with trivial details designed to show off how much research he has done. Instead he wears his knowledge lightly, using it to give the reader just enough to set the scene and move the plot but keeping the focus on the story and the characters.
Yet perhaps the greatest factor in the novel’s success is de Camp’s sense of fun. Rather than overwhelming his protagonist with a pretentious sense of responsibility to the past, he lets Padway run wild. Once he fixes upon his goal of remaking 6th century Rome into 20th century America, Padway has no qualms with trampling upon the past, using his foreknowledge and technical skills to change dramatically the course of history. Dramatic, even seismic shifts, are accomplished with the stroke of a pen, and he even goes so far as to initiate European contact with America solely for the purpose of acquiring tobacco. This light-hearted approach makes the book a pleasure to read, and one that continues to overshadow so many of the works that have followed in its path.
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little more than his wits, he struggles at first to survive and then to prevent the onset of the “Dark Ages” by using his knowledge of history to change events. Before long he finds himself drawn into Italian politics and facing a war that threatens both Italy’s future and his own.Such is the scenario of L. Sprague de Camp’s novel, a classic of science fiction and one of the seminal works of the alternate history genre. That it has attained this status is due to de Camp’s skills as an author. Once he moves from the premise he constructs a plausible scenario with many believable characters. Unlike all too many other authors working within the genre, he does not overwhelm the reader with trivial details designed to show off how much research he has done. Instead he wears his knowledge lightly, using it to give the reader just enough to set the scene and move the plot but keeping the focus on the story and the characters.
Yet perhaps the greatest factor in the novel’s success is de Camp’s sense of fun. Rather than overwhelming his protagonist with a pretentious sense of responsibility to the past, he lets Padway run wild. Once he fixes upon his goal of remaking 6th century Rome into 20th century America, Padway has no qualms with trampling upon the past, using his foreknowledge and technical skills to change dramatically the course of history. Dramatic, even seismic shifts, are accomplished with the stroke of a pen, and he even goes so far as to initiate European contact with America solely for the purpose of acquiring tobacco. This light-hearted approach makes the book a pleasure to read, and one that continues to overshadow so many of the works that have followed in its path.
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LibraryThing member PhilSyphe
This story opens in Rome during the late 1930s, featuring American historian Martin Padway, who is listening to his friend's theory about individuals "slipping back through time." Oddly enough, soon after this conversation, Martin slips back through time - what were the chances of that?
With no
Despite the amazing coincidences and unexplained reasons of what has caused Martin to shoot back 100s of years through time, the story itself is well-written and features some interesting scenes. Martin sets out to change history by taking short steps, beginning by inventing brandy. His knowledge of this time period enables him to predict upcoming battles. He earns the nickname of 'Mysterious Martinus'.
Thomasus is my favourite character. He is a banker who often refuses Martin's requests, declaring he cannot appease him, only to finish his bold refusal by asking the likes of, "So how much would you need?" or "So what would it cost me?" and the reader knows he's going to go along with whatever Martin has proposed.
I'm familiar with L. Sprague de Camp's style via his commendable efforts in filling in Robert E. Howard's 'Conan the Cimerian' chronicles. This was my reason for trying one of his non-Conan texts.
With no
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explanation of how or why this happens, Martin finds himself in the same city but in the year 535. He is naturally unnerved, but copes with his situation better than I think most of us would. Luckily he knows a lot of the old languages, so he is able to communicate.Despite the amazing coincidences and unexplained reasons of what has caused Martin to shoot back 100s of years through time, the story itself is well-written and features some interesting scenes. Martin sets out to change history by taking short steps, beginning by inventing brandy. His knowledge of this time period enables him to predict upcoming battles. He earns the nickname of 'Mysterious Martinus'.
Thomasus is my favourite character. He is a banker who often refuses Martin's requests, declaring he cannot appease him, only to finish his bold refusal by asking the likes of, "So how much would you need?" or "So what would it cost me?" and the reader knows he's going to go along with whatever Martin has proposed.
I'm familiar with L. Sprague de Camp's style via his commendable efforts in filling in Robert E. Howard's 'Conan the Cimerian' chronicles. This was my reason for trying one of his non-Conan texts.
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LibraryThing member capiam1234
Decent alternative time travel story.
LibraryThing member Neil_Luvs_Books
This was a fun book to read. What made it fun was the way that the protagonist, Padway used his future knowledge to circumvent the demise of his own and Italian-Gothic culture. He is largely successful making this a time travel story that assumes a multiverse. The other aspect that made this a fun
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read was the way that despite Padway's best intentions of avoiding altercations, human nature consistently thwarts him. Human nature, clearly in de Camp's mind, is that of self-interest, and not always enlightened self-interest! Show Less
LibraryThing member burritapal
The protagonist gets transported in time back to 6th century ad of rome. Because it's about to fall into the Middle ages, also known as the dark ages, the author named it "lest darkness falls". The protagonist, once he realizes he is stuck in 536 ad Rome, sets out to change the course of events.
Also, I would have ended this differently, if this were my book. Easy to say right? However, I would have liked to see treated how, perhaps the protagonist got struck by another lightning bolt (which is what happened when he was transported back in time), so that now he travels back to his own time, and sees the changes in current events that have occurred because he changed all this stuff back in the 6th Century ad. For example: he introduced Brandy, the double entry accounting system, the printing press, just to name a few. Since they were invented so far back ahead of time than they should have been, what happens now in the protagonist's current time?
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Little by little he is drawn into the political scene, and gets involved in wars. The rest of the book is one war after another. This is where the author lost my interest. Also, I would have ended this differently, if this were my book. Easy to say right? However, I would have liked to see treated how, perhaps the protagonist got struck by another lightning bolt (which is what happened when he was transported back in time), so that now he travels back to his own time, and sees the changes in current events that have occurred because he changed all this stuff back in the 6th Century ad. For example: he introduced Brandy, the double entry accounting system, the printing press, just to name a few. Since they were invented so far back ahead of time than they should have been, what happens now in the protagonist's current time?
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LibraryThing member electrascaife
In 1938 an ancient historian/archaeologist is visiting Rome when he's struck by lightning and somehow sent back to 535 AD. He has absolutely no qualms about changing the future because he decides to 'invent' the printing press and a bunch of other should-be-anachronistic devices. He also decides to
I dunno. I feel like I should have adored this story, and I really super didn't. I mean, who hasn't daydreamed about going back in time and trying to decide how you would live in a past society (as a woman, though, these daydreams tend to end in a disturbingly nightmarish way for me). And yeah, it would be totally fun to act the non-modern day Prometheus (minus the monster, hopefully), but something about this version of the daydream seems off to me. Just because you know the printing press exists doesn't mean you could make one yourself (or am I just helplessly ignorant of such things? Does everyone know how to create something like that from essentially nothing?), and the main character has no problem doing just that and also creating so many other things without the benefit of Ikea-like instructions. (I mean, a telescope? Come on. I get the general concept, but actually *making* one?!) And he gets arrested a time or two, but has no real problem wriggling out of trouble, it seems. How was he not condemned for witchcraft?! (A TELESCOPE, FFS. AND CANONS.) It was also not...interesting? That period of Roman history has never been my favorite, but it's certainly not dull. But it seemed so here. Anyway, a big miss for me, sorry to say.
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make sure that the Dark Ages don't happen. I dunno. I feel like I should have adored this story, and I really super didn't. I mean, who hasn't daydreamed about going back in time and trying to decide how you would live in a past society (as a woman, though, these daydreams tend to end in a disturbingly nightmarish way for me). And yeah, it would be totally fun to act the non-modern day Prometheus (minus the monster, hopefully), but something about this version of the daydream seems off to me. Just because you know the printing press exists doesn't mean you could make one yourself (or am I just helplessly ignorant of such things? Does everyone know how to create something like that from essentially nothing?), and the main character has no problem doing just that and also creating so many other things without the benefit of Ikea-like instructions. (I mean, a telescope? Come on. I get the general concept, but actually *making* one?!) And he gets arrested a time or two, but has no real problem wriggling out of trouble, it seems. How was he not condemned for witchcraft?! (A TELESCOPE, FFS. AND CANONS.) It was also not...interesting? That period of Roman history has never been my favorite, but it's certainly not dull. But it seemed so here. Anyway, a big miss for me, sorry to say.
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LibraryThing member usnmm2
An other blast from the past. Martin Padway is visiting Rome, and is whisked back to 535 A.D.. Where he introduces brandy, modern book keeping, printing presses and movable type, news papers and manages to save the world the 1000 years time called the Dark Ages. The story often humorous and brings
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to mind A 'Connecticut Yankee' in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain. Just enjoyable and fun to read. Show Less
LibraryThing member AQsReviews
Time-travel that means alternative history. i.e. increasing survivability of ONE person through alteration of the historical timeline of civilization. Talk about an ambitious author/character! This is a fun and interesting novel full of wit and invention. Essential reading for vintage science
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fiction readers. Sets a pretty high bar, so to speak, for time travel/ alt history novels. I enjoyed the book and it demonstrates the author's skill and knowledge. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
501 Must-Read Books (Emma Beare, 2006) (Science Fiction)
Mir Fantastiki: 100 main fantasy and science-fiction books (Historical Fiction — 74)